Since the first appearance of Zapp, I've wished that Phil Hartman was still alive so that he'd have been able to do the voice.

Billy's Zapp does have a hint of Hartman, even though he's not doing a Phil Hartman immitation, but doing the voice in his own style.

I'd have to say Phil Hartman's Troy McClure mixed a little bit with his SNL Jesus imitation would have made a great Zapp Brannigan. Strong with a little bit of a lower tone for the ultimate seductiveness.

I think Billy did a great job with Zapp, and, as they said in the commentaries, the character sort of dictates the voice choice. But, it would have been great to have had Phil as part of the Futurama universe, and see what he would have added. Truly a great loss.

Well, I've always been a big fan of Phil Hartman's work on the Simpsons and Newsradio (interestingly, IMDB lists him as appearing in a movie called Amazon Women on the Moon - I find that funny...), and seeing how the part was written with him in mind, I think that he would have been the best at it. Of course, with that being said, I don't think that anything is lost with Billy doing the voice. He does great job at it.

If you listen to the commentary track on volume one of Futurama Matt Greoning says that Zapp was created with the intention of having Phil Hartman be his voice, I think they even say he had begun voice work on the character. After Phil's tragic death, Billy West took over the role, and I think he does a wonderful job. I would have loved to hear Phil's version of the Zapper though.

The first time I heard Zapp, I just assumed the voice was modeled after Hartman. I wasn't very surprised to hear that Phil was originally intended for the role, because I'm sure we can all agree Zapp would have been just as sleazariffic with Hartman at the helm. West does seem to be some sort of voice machine though.

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